The city council has scheduled a vote Tuesday on whether to go another $6.5 million (maximum) further in debt to improve four roads in Kyle — Center Street/Stagecoach Road, Beebee Road, Marketplace Avenue, and Windy Hill Road.
According to items filed with Tuesday’s agenda item, the $6.5 million raised through the issuance of General Obligation bonds would be used to pay for “public education, engineering, design, survey, right-of-way acquisitions, widening, realignment, turn lanes, roundabouts, low water crossings, drainage improvements, street signage, traffic signals, sidewalks, streetlights, and greenspaces.”
The bond sale would have to be approved by voters in this November’s election in which the council seats currently held by Mayor Pro Temp Rick Koch and Michael Tobias would also be on the ballot. General Obligation bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing agency (in this case, the City of Kyle) and are paid for by local property taxes. Because they may involve an increase in property taxes, they require voter approval.
The agenda item reads: “Approve a resolution expressing intent to finance expenditures to be incurred by the City of Kyle for the 2021 General Obligation Road Bond Program and to seek reimbursement of such expenditures from future General Obligation bonds issued by the City for road improvements.”
Tuesday’s agenda also includes a contract with an Austin PR firm, Gap Strategies, to sell the bond package to Kyle voters, even though using taxpayer funds for such purposes is illegal. The City will try to skirt the illegality of this expenditure by labeling Gap Strategies PR efforts as “public education,” a strategy that was successful during the last bond election to finance the new police headquarters building and park improvements because no one challenged the illegality of the activities in court.
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